[Drgnrdr]

This is how I teach dogs to heel.

Teaching Heel the Positive way

Heel is no fun for the dog . Heel means walk with me at the seam of my pant leg (no more than 6 inches away), do not sniff, do not go potty, don’t reach out and greet anyone. Move when and where I move, pay attention. We do not want to Heel for long periods of time, it is very deep concentration for the dog, make sure and break up heel sessions with loose leash walk so they can have a brain break. Do not let them sniff the ground or go at anything while trying to teach them heel, if you do it will plague you for the rest of the class and into walking them in the real world.
Step 1. Sit your dog beside you, on your left or right side. Traditionally we have always heeled on the left, but if you want to heel on your right you can do so, just do the opposite of what I say here, when teaching heel and turns. Have a high value treat to keep your dog’s attention.
With your dog beside you, leash will be in your right hand and treat in your left. Keep slack in the leash, let the treat do the work for you. As you lure (put treat at their nose to move them) your dog to the left side and sit them, let them sniff the treat and then lift it 2 inches above their nose, step off with your left foot and say their name and “heel”, this should be all in one continuous motion, it takes getting use to. Take 3 steps with the dog in perfect position and Mark it (click or say YES) and treat them. Walk at a regular pace do not fall into the trap of walking slow to watch them and keep them with you, you slow down any further and the dog, is going to rebel, his normal pace is a trot, you slow down when walking and he will not stay with you in the beginning. Add more steps thru the week of practice, until you can get at least 10-12 steps in a forward heel pattern.

What if dog: (a)does not stay in position, or (b)moves forward or (c)jumps at the treat?
(a)You may not have a treat of high enough value,
(b)watch the position of your hand, it should be straight up, from the dogs nose, and at the side of your left hip, or for a tall dog (short person) it would almost be under your left arm pit, the dog follows the treat or he should, so watch the position of where you have that treat, move your arm forward and the dog comes forward, keep it back slightly and they will follow it behind you.
(c)Dogs that jump are trying to get closer to the treat, so we want to do the opposite of what they want, so when they jump at it, bring it straight up and way out of reach and say your negative word marker, “Uh-Uh“, then return it back to the correct position, and try again. If your dog keeps messing up, check your treat value, hand position and if your walking to slow, fix it and try again. Be patient, persistent and consistent.

What if they want to crab out to the side of you and not want to walk near your left leg?
Check your shoes, are they making a loud noise? Some small dogs do this because they have been accidentally stepped on before and fear your feet, if your dog likes to pull a lot still, he may be trying to pull away, try it on their collar, place it high up on the neck, a harness gives them the ability to pull you, sometimes it pinches or pulls hair, check all this, if all is okay, then try to use a side wall in your home like a hallway or the back of the couch, walk them next to the wall and crowd them slightly between you and the wall, we use the aisle for this, it’s only for the training in the beginning, to teach them to walk next to our leg and get rewarded. Always talk to them and praise them when they do good. If they are afraid of our shiny floor, try to come in extra times when you can, not just for class, this will give you a chance to practice and get them use to the floor, thru repetition, you can desensitize them.

Step 2. Once you get them to do 10-12 steps in the heel, your ready to add our pace changes. Make sure they are paying attention to you, say “good girl/boy” in a happy voice a lot of times it gets them to look at you, that’s when you want to give them the cue word.
Ask them to heel, then after walking about 4-5 steps tell them “slow” (cue word) and walk real slow, for about 3-4 steps then Mark, Treat, and Praise them. Do it again until they start to slow down when you tell them, if they do so, go to step 3.

Step 3. Do the same thing as teaching them slow, but this time say “quick”, and walk 3-4 steps fast. If they try to lag behind, you can pat your leg, say the cue word “quick” to get them to keep up with you. When they step quickly with you, Mark, Treat and Praise it.

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You can say “slow or Quick” a couple of times while your dog is in the act of doing the behavior, don’t do a lot, like "slow, slow, slow, slow", or "Quick, Quick, Quick, Quick", it will not help and it could become part of the command, (besides it sounds funny ).

Helpful tip: those with little dogs may use a wooden type (or plastic) spoon with a long handle. Put something sticky, that will cling to it, like peanut butter, or a canned food on the spoon, this will allow you to get an extra few inches on your reach to them, that way you can put a treat 2 inches from their nose and you're not bent over, mark it with yes or click and give them a lick when they do it correctly as their reward. Try a HIGH value treat first though, before resorting to the spoon, sometimes teaching it with the spoon will take longer to teach them, they will only walk in heel if you have the spoon. Every dog is different.

Notes:

1. Do not let them sniff the ground when in heel, this will become a constant habit during your training and will become frustrating to you, they will not be paying attention to you, they will be checking the ground and surroundings all the time.
2. Come and Let’s Go should not be used when you are teaching heel, if they lag behind look at the position of your treat, is it too far back? Say “quick” to get them to catch up. Praise helps keep their attention also, are you being boring,reveling in your own little world and not using praise? Talk to your dog.
3. For regular walking use “let’s Go”, it is more fun than heel, only use heel for control, in crowds, around something, to get them completely in a controlled walk.
4. Progress slowly, if your dog is having trouble take a step back and work on something they are good at to reward and praise them, try to have patience.
5. Keep in mind that dogs don’t generalize, every time you go to a new environment it may seem like they have forgotten everything, to help your dog succeed, lower your expectations to help them be successful, gradually increase your expectations as they get better, DON’T GIVE UP. It’s all part of them learning to generalize it, when you say heel it means heel in every place you tell them too, not just in your yard or house.
6. Heel is very difficult to do and takes a lot of concentration, make sure and have a few “brain breaks” during the heel training so you don’t cause them to get bored and frustrated. We use “Let’s Go” for loose leash walking, and they can walk, sniff, potty, or roll in the grass if you allow it, as long as they don’t pull.
7. Watch the position of your treat when teaching heel. Make sure its 2 inches minimum above your dog’s nose, and as close to your left hip as possible, keep it at the seam of your pant leg, your dog’s ears and head should remain at the seam of your pants. Use only 2 feet of leash, curl the rest of your 4-6 foot leash in your right hand, and keep it at your waist in front of you.

Written by: Accredited Instructor Drgnrdr © 2004